Side mounted air curtain assemblies are known in the automotive art and are designed primarily to keep occupants within a motor vehicle during a rollover event. Such air curtain assemblies have found particular application in certain vehicles, such as sport utility vehicles, known to experience rollovers.
One known air curtain assembly comprises an elongated plastic box containing an air manifold and air curtain within the box. Typically a vehicle has two such assemblies, one mounted on each side, with each assembly extending longitudinally between the front and rear ends of the vehicle. With known assemblies of this type, the box is attached directly to a sheet metal structure of the vehicle via a plurality of mount brackets and associated fasteners. The fasteners extend through holes in the brackets and are torqued directly to the sheet metal structure of the vehicle.
Air curtain assemblies of this type also include a source of gas to inflate the air curtain, typically comprising pellets of various solids known in the art, housed in a canister. When a sensor, typically mounted within the instrument panel of the vehicle, senses vehicle side loads indicating that a rollover condition is imminent, an electric charge is sent to the canister that vaporizes the pellets within the canister. The resulting gas inflates the air curtain(s) and causes the curtain(s) to deploy downwardly, typically with one curtain over each window on the corresponding side of the vehicle.
Air curtain assemblies of this type are subject to certain disadvantages. For example, in addition to the need for torqued fasteners to react the deployment force when the air curtain(s) deploy, additional torqued fasteners are typically required to force the elongated box to conform to the shape of the vehicle trim as they are typically shaped to fit the vehicle body.
Additionally, the assembly of the air curtain assembly to the sheet metal structure of the vehicle, with the required torquing of a multitude of fasteners, and the subsequent installation of the interior trim over the corresponding interior portion of the vehicle, are done using a sequential, layered approach, as opposed to a modular approach. This adds cost to the assembly process and may lengthen the assembly line due to the time required by these layered tasks in combination with the required line speed. If the assembly line must be lengthened, the potential plant capacity can be reduced. Also, torquing of the required fasteners to install the air curtain assembly to the sheet metal structure of the vehicle typically requires one or more assemblers to enter the vehicle as it is moving down the assembly line which is undesirable.
Another safety measure that can be incorporated in existing vehicles is a head-impact-countermeasure structure in the interior of the vehicle that is designed to slow the velocity of an occupants' head upon impact with this structure during a crash situation. Known head-impact-countermeasure structures can assume a variety of configurations, but all are believed to be separate from any side curtain assembly, requiring separate assembly that can also add to the overall assembly time for the vehicle.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for an improved air curtain assembly as well as the associated trim assembly for motor vehicles.